Keziah Ridgeway, a celebrated and embattled Philadelphia teacher, is suing the district alleging anti-Islamic bias

A celebrated and embattled former Northeast High teacher has sued the Philadelphia School District, alleging civil rights violations and a pattern of “religious, racial and ethnic discrimination” in its treatment of her and other Muslim people.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court this week by Keziah Ridgeway, who recently returned to a teaching position in the district. Ridgeway had been out of the classroom for months as the school system investigated her for alleged antisemitism and violations of its social media policy.

In April, the district issued the results of its investigation: a five-day unpaid suspension, permanent reassignment from Northeast with prejudice, and a written warning “for her First Amendment protected speech,” according to the lawsuit.

Prior to the controversy, Ridgeway was best known as an acclaimed educator, earning attention for her community-building and skill in the classroom.

The School District of Philadelphia Jewish Families Association, a private group that formed after the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, accused Ridgeway of threatening violence against its members.

The district ultimately reprimanded Ridgeway, retaliating against her “because she spoke on issues of public concern and reported instances of wrongdoing and abuse of Muslims and racial and ethnic minorities,” the lawsuit said.

Ridgeway sued the school district, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr., district general counsel Lynn Rauch, and other system officials. She is seeking financial damages to make up for her losses and emotional distress, as well as punitive damages.

A district spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday, but the district typically does not comment on lawsuits or personnel matters.

Ridgeway taught African American history, Advanced Placement African American history, world history, and social and cultural anthropology at Northeast beginning in 2016.

Ridgeway is Muslim; from her early days at the school, a pattern of Islamophobia developed, the lawsuit said. In 2016, the suit said, a white teacher questioned Ridgeway and another Black teacher who was Muslim about their religion “and alleged they were terrorist.” When Ridgeway raised objections, she was told to ignore the teacher, she said.

The suit also cited a Palestinian student being barred from wearing clothes with the Palestinian flag on them for a school dress-down day, while other students were able to wear clothes with flags of other countries, including Israel, and censorship of a story about Palestine in the student newspaper, but no censorship of a story about Israel, among other issues.

The situation escalated in 2023, after the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began. Multiple complaints were filed against Ridgeway by Jewish faculty and others.

The first came when Ridgeway purchased buttons for students who formed a school-approved club of Palestinian and Sudanese students.

The lawsuit said students were told they could wear buttons that said “Free Palestine” and “Sudan In Our Hearts” and sell them as a fundraiser.

Several Jewish faculty complained about Ridgeway and the students wearing and selling the buttons and ultimately filed a grievance. (There were no complaints about students expressing support for Israel or, earlier, support for Ukraine, according to the lawsuit.)

Ridgeway’s lawyers alleged other issues: a retired district teacher calling her a “terrorist” at a school event; confidential information about Muslim students being posted on the Jewish families group’s social media page; a campaign by members of the group to write letters to city, state, and district officials calling for Ridgeway’s firing; and more.

Further controversy erupted after Ridgeway, in the winter of 2023, assigned students a project: examine a modern-day group of Indigenous or oppressed people’s use of art as an act of resistance and connect it to enslaved Black people’s use of spirituals.

Two students created a video about a podcast on Palestinian art; Ridgeway gave them an “A” and picked it to be part of the school’s Black History Month assemblies; her principal signed off on the entry after reaching out to district officials, who never responded to his inquiries.

The students were ultimately allowed by the principal, Omar Crowder, to present their project, but one teacher recorded it, and afterward, the lawsuit said, some “Jewish teachers at NEHS expressed outrage and discomfort with the project because Palestine was the topic.” Crowder soon told Ridgeway that the project could not be presented at future Black History assemblies.

The district took no action when Ridgeway was physically assaulted by another Northeast teacher, the lawsuit said; its officials also required her to remove any references to Palestine from a presentation she was invited to make at a lecture series. It also failed to investigate the Northeast teacher who recorded the student presentation and shared it widely, violating federal student privacy laws, according to Ridgeway’s lawyers.

“Ridgeway had been bombarded with threats, death threats, and constant harassment” from the Jewish families’ group, the suit said.

Ridgeway, in August 2024, made a post on her personal social media that included a gun emoji, and asked about a Black-owned gun shop.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia filed a complaint against Ridgeway based on that post and, after an Inquirer story about the complaint ran, Ridgeway was removed from her classroom, reassigned to complete remote work, with pay, pending investigation.

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker “also contacted Ridgeway and forced her to resign from her position on the City of Philadelphia’s Muslim Engagement Commission,” according to the lawsuit.

The suit contends that the investigation of the gun violence allegations against Ridgeway, conducted by an outside law firm, was “biased and unlawful.”

District officials told Ridgeway her lawyer could not represent her at hearings. She rejected the union representative offered because that person had also represented the Northeast teacher who recorded and disseminated Ridgeway’s students’ presentation. They opened a separate investigation of her later in 2024 over allegations — again by the Jewish families’ group — that she improperly shared a social media post.

Officials spoke about the lawsuit at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

“This lawsuit is about accountability,” Ahmet Tekelioglu, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Philadelphia, said in a statement. “Ms. Ridgeway has dedicated her career to uplifting students and challenging injustice within the public school system. The School District of Philadelphia cannot silence educators who advocate for equity and speak truth to power.”

It is unconscionable the district retaliated against Ridgeway, said Spencer A. Hill, a lawyer representing her.

“Our students deserve better,” Hill said. “Ms. Ridgeway deserves better.”